Space Engineers is inspired by reality and by how things work. Think about modern-day NASA technology extrapolated 60 years into the future. Space Engineers strives to follow the laws of physics and doesn't use technologies that wouldn't be feasible in the near future.

To be honest, for the sake of intuitive gameplay, we had to make a few sacrifices to “realism elitism” - artificial gravity, max velocity, reactor efficacy, static grid, immovable asteroids, etc.

Space Engineers concentrates on construction aspects, but can be played as a tactical shooter as well. We expect players to avoid engaging in direct man-to-man combat and instead use their creativity and engineering skills to build war machines and fortifications. Space Engineers shouldn’t be about troops; it should be about the machinery you build.

they're planning on releasing via Steam Early Access soon. The alpha footage looks pretty cool, and hopefully they work in single player content like they did with Miner Wars 2081.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

I picked this up since it was on Steam sale and I'm a sucker for space games. To say it's Minecraft in space is an oversimplification. There is a mining aspect to it, but you're mining asteroids, which is different. And the biggest appeal for me is that you get to build and pilot space ships. It's still very much an alpha situation, but I think there's enough content now for several hours of play.

Just wanted to copy here what I posted over at the developer's website forum:

Quote

I'm seventeen hours in on Space Engineers. I started my career as a space pirate a few hours ago and have seen several of the auto ships. This afternoon was the first time I'd seen the Mining Hauler.

Wow. Just... wow.

First of all, the interior design is fantastic. It really does seem like something that hauls ore across the galaxy. Catwalks, access tubes, conveyers, all give the impression of a starship that isn't just some fantasy, it's a ship that does real work. And the unfinished blocks, like the under construction cargo container, break up any dull symmetry.

The color scheme is also excellent, even down to the red warning light over the access towards the reactor. It's those little touches that add to the immersion.

The exterior is excellent as well. Everything seemed very functional and austere as you would expect on a ship not intended to be seen by the public. And again, the use of unfinished blocks made it look like the space going equivalent of a rusty tramp freighter.

Sadly, I was unable to totally enjoy the experience, because I never found the cockpit (control room). But, again in a very realistic way, that makes sense. The giant MegaGothodon corporation that sends these haulers across the quadrant know that pirates might come on board, so they hide the controls. Think of the special control room for the Maersk Alabama. And they even made sure I never found all the cargo containers, even though I really, really looked.

So a big Gold Star to the designer of the ship (who I guess is also the designer of the game). Fantastic work!

Features- glass window blocks- two new types of large ship cockpits - can be used in first and third person view- artificial mass block – can be used to add gravity-affected mass to ships, useful in machine ships or cars- toolbar config screen: list of building blocks is scrollable- save game is executed on background- reduced meteor velocity- rendering and game-updating are now independent (increased performance, removed FPS limit) --- this is a first step in our performance enhancements initiative

after JZ's write up, I found the lure of the game too much to resist and picked up a copy through the IndieGala store for $15. glad I did. I have had a lot of fun going through the game's survival mode and managed to revive the crashed ship that I started the game with. and then proceed to crash into the second asteroid that I fly to. (Turns out my only remaining reverse thruster had been smashed by a meteorite without my noticing it.) I found a cheat of sorts by dying in the game without having set a spawn point and got a free starter ship for my troubles. well, I crashed that one too and had some damage to repair, but eventually got going again.

I then spent the next few hours intercepting the various cargo transports flying through the system and robbing their cargo. good thing their turrets aren't active yet.

Now I just need to figure out the best way to steal some of their ships whole without wrecking my own. trying to figure out how to make a giant claw

Biggest problem with large ships? Docking them! My solution? Add a secondary conning station under the hull, behind the landing gear. Sure, you're "upside down", but it's space, right? Those two big lights on each side of the gear cause a shadow to be cast. As you get close to the docking pier, watch the shadow. When it's the right shape the light on the landing feet will go from black to yellow, indicating that you are close enough to activate the magnetic landing locks, which show up as green.

Some exterior shots of the USS Savage Puppy. All are click to enlarge.

Note the quad upper gun turrets and the missile banks. Guns rotate to give it that mean look . The big greenhouse on the left is the piloting station. The red structure houses the reactor bay.

The underside. Landing gears, thrusters and more gun turrets.

View from astern. Note the landing pad in the center.

And finally, from head on. The piloting greenhouse is pretty ugly. There are angled glass pieces available in the construction inventory, but it's very touchy trying to get them all matched up and then you realize that the tinted face of the glass is on the wrong side . Easier to make it a big rectangle.

My design philosophy for the Puppy; first, I wanted to make it logically functional. Since gravity on large ships and platforms is universally down, not towards the center of mass of the ship, there logically is a top and a bottom to the ship. So there is some similarity to earthbound naval vessels, although the Puppy does mount quad Gatling guns on the bottom to cover missile attacks from the lower hemisphere.

My second design concept was that there should be an "inside" to the ship, so there are doors separating the inside and the outside. In this photo we are just outside the port entrance door. Note the yellow deck plates; it's possible to walk all the way around the outside of the hull, yellow indicates a walkway.

Looking into the main reactor room. Note the red lighting, it's the common color used for interior lights.

Looking up to the piloting station. Note the excellent view all around.

The view back from the helmsman's chair.

Finally, an elevated look at the helmsman's chair from above and to the right. Note the excellent view.

Inside the reactor room. Four reactors, twin gyros and a gravity generator. Eventually I might need a couple of dozen of the gravity generators if I want 1G throughout the ship; it's that big. click to enlarge

I haven't loaded in the last few nights as my co-op buddy hasn't had time, but I did manage to almost convince two other people to buy this.

We've enabled meteorites and while they are a definite hassle, give the game a nice reason to design your ships and stations against accidental damage. heavy armor, reinforced armor around reactors (aka, internal bulkheads and protected cockpits. it sadly means all that glass is a dangerous luxury, but once AI turrets are activated, worth the effort to not have your expensively built warship taken out in a lucky hit.

I think my first personal ship will be something along the lines of the Sulaco from Aliens, complete with the dropship and APC (once wheels are added)

Features- conveyor tube - move items from inventory to inventory (IMPORTANT: this is just a first work-in-progress version and a realistic version will be added later)- collector block - can collect small objects (ore, ingots, components, tools...) into inventory (IMPORTANT: this is just a first work-in-progress version and a realistic version will be added later)- connector block - first work in progress version, can throw items from inventory to space, in future update could be used to connect two ships/stations and transfer items (IMPORTANT: this is just a first work-in-progress version and a realistic version will be added later)- server connectivity status notification

Fixes- removed lag caused by texture load when opening Toolbar config screen for the first time- fixed beacon shining when it was out of power- fixed join game screen which was cleared after alt-tab, but not refreshed- improved 3rd person camera performance- fixed disabled anti-aliasing

Features- conveyor tube - move items from inventory to inventory (IMPORTANT: this is just a first work-in-progress version and a realistic version will be added later)- collector block - can collect small objects (ore, ingots, components, tools...) into inventory (IMPORTANT: this is just a first work-in-progress version and a realistic version will be added later)- connector block - first work in progress version, can throw items from inventory to space, in future update could be used to connect two ships/stations and transfer items (IMPORTANT: this is just a first work-in-progress version and a realistic version will be added later)- server connectivity status notification

Fixes- removed lag caused by texture load when opening Toolbar config screen for the first time- fixed beacon shining when it was out of power- fixed join game screen which was cleared after alt-tab, but not refreshed- improved 3rd person camera performance- fixed disabled anti-aliasing

glad that the conveyors are in and working now. this makes some of the designs I've been planning for the refinery base a lot more feasible now.